Despair Work by Joanna Macy
In 1982 I attended a Physicians For Social Responsibility one-day conference entitled "Speaking out on the threat of Nuclear War: a practical guide prepared by the Greater Boston PSR".
Part of the handbook is entitled "Presenting with Care: Dealing with a Difficult Subject".
The first part of that section is an article by Joanna Macy from Evolutionary Blues magazine entitled "Despair Work".
The piece begins
A psychiatrist, studying attitudes about nuclear weapons among persons in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently found that almost all participants in her research considered nuclear war to be likely, if not inevitable. Everyone taking part in Dr. Carol Wolman's study believe it would be an unparalled disaster, a disaster they do not wish to survive and that would probably extinguish life on earth. Most of them also say that they found the prospect too painful to confront personally or acknowledge publicly. Admittedly forseeing the very possible extinction of our culture, their predominant response is not to cry out or ring alarms. It is to go silent, to go numb.
I'm going to be transcribing it whole, here, for the benefit of a few people who've asked to know more about it [mentioned in the past in several posts]. I'm thinking to filter it as well as using lj-cuts. Not because I think everyone wouldn't benefit from reading it- that's not it. But because it's something one needs to be ready for: to acknowledge the "Suffering of the world":
You can hold yourself back from the suffering of the world: this is something you are free to do..., but perhaps precisely this holding back is the only suffering you might be able to avoid.
Elie Wiesel
What Dr. Macy has done, over time, is find/create/refine both individual work and group work one can do to let go of holding back, if that is one's choice, or to confront, to acknowledge. This article literally saved my life at the time it came into my life, and I'd like to share it with each/all of you, for what it's worth.
ETA: I will not be filtering, but I will tag with "despair work" for those who'd rather skip on any given day, and I will be using LJ-cuts as the installments will be -not huge- but large enough to need some time to read and digest. She's a wonderful writer, Dr. Macy is; even though it's a difficult topic, it's a good read.
cited above:
Elie Wiesel
Dr. Carol Wolpert
[ part one, part two , part three, part four, references and citations]
Part of the handbook is entitled "Presenting with Care: Dealing with a Difficult Subject".
The first part of that section is an article by Joanna Macy from Evolutionary Blues magazine entitled "Despair Work".
The piece begins
A psychiatrist, studying attitudes about nuclear weapons among persons in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently found that almost all participants in her research considered nuclear war to be likely, if not inevitable. Everyone taking part in Dr. Carol Wolman's study believe it would be an unparalled disaster, a disaster they do not wish to survive and that would probably extinguish life on earth. Most of them also say that they found the prospect too painful to confront personally or acknowledge publicly. Admittedly forseeing the very possible extinction of our culture, their predominant response is not to cry out or ring alarms. It is to go silent, to go numb.
I'm going to be transcribing it whole, here, for the benefit of a few people who've asked to know more about it [mentioned in the past in several posts]. I'm thinking to filter it as well as using lj-cuts. Not because I think everyone wouldn't benefit from reading it- that's not it. But because it's something one needs to be ready for: to acknowledge the "Suffering of the world":
You can hold yourself back from the suffering of the world: this is something you are free to do..., but perhaps precisely this holding back is the only suffering you might be able to avoid.
Elie Wiesel
What Dr. Macy has done, over time, is find/create/refine both individual work and group work one can do to let go of holding back, if that is one's choice, or to confront, to acknowledge. This article literally saved my life at the time it came into my life, and I'd like to share it with each/all of you, for what it's worth.
ETA: I will not be filtering, but I will tag with "despair work" for those who'd rather skip on any given day, and I will be using LJ-cuts as the installments will be -not huge- but large enough to need some time to read and digest. She's a wonderful writer, Dr. Macy is; even though it's a difficult topic, it's a good read.
cited above:
Elie Wiesel
Dr. Carol Wolpert
[ part one, part two , part three, part four, references and citations]